A Response to a Heavy Week

This has been a heavy week.

The assassination of Charlie Kirk, another tragic school shooting, and the anniversary of 9/11 have reminded us of the fragility of life and the depth of brokenness in our world.

Being back in my hometown has brought these events even closer to my heart. As I drove past Pennbrook Middle School, I was taken back to the first time I felt the sting of violence—when in 1998, a friend of mine was killed by her father. I remember where I was on April 20, 1999, when news broke of the Columbine shooting. I remembered where I sat in my High School on September 11, 2001, as the world seemed to come apart. In each of these moments, people asked the same questions we ask now: How could someone do something so awful? And just like then, people are quick to look for someone to blame.

The truth is, I don’t have all the answers. None of us do. But I am convinced of this: the greatest cause of violence—whether political or otherwise—is the brokenness of the human heart. We are wounded people, capable of wounding others. In the summer of 1999, while touring and introducing their new song “A New Hope” the band Five Iron Frenzy talked about what it was like to live a few blocks from Columbine. They shared that the sister of one of their members was locked in one of those rooms. Front man Reese said “mankind is dark, and without God people do things like that.” I’ve held onto that for my whole life. What I’ve found is that the only true healing, the only lasting peace, comes through Jesus.

I did not always agree with Charlie Kirk or everything he said. But today I grieve. I grieve for his family and loved ones. I grieve for the students and families impacted by yet another school shooting. I grieve for the way violence keeps reshaping the story of our nation. And I grieve for all of us, because this is what we have become—a people so divided, so angry, so unable to see the image of God in one another—that blood is shed in our streets and our schools.

It is scary to admit, but if this persists, we are headed for very dark times. Yet even in the darkness, I cling to hope. Because the gospel tells me that Christ is the light the darkness cannot overcome. And that even when we are at our worst, God is still at work to bring peace, to bring healing, to bring life.

So, my prayer this week is simple:

“Lord Jesus, heal our hearts.

Heal our land.

Teach us to see one another not as enemies, but as neighbors.

Make us instruments of your peace.”